A little background infomation: I'm studying spanish on my own with a great program for about 5 months now. Its a slow process but im coming along. I have decided to take a two week vacation to Madrid and attend a spanish school there called Don Quijote or maybe Eureka. I want to go so I can be in a spanish speaking environment all day and they can help me clean my spanish up. I have some interactions with Spaniards since about 2-3 days a week I work with the Iberia flight and I can hear the Spanish "th" sound. They seem to use "Vale" a lot lol...which Im not sure what it means. I can just say is your bag unlocked or wait on the other side and hope they don't start rambling on.

Now I have been told by a reliable source that some accents are more difficult then others. Im no where near fluent so I don't know how everything is supposed to sound in spanish. On this website here from the U of Texas at Austin http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/index.html I can listen to native speakers from all over. I think the Chiliean, Peruvian(I watch Laura) and the Argentina accents are a little harder. A friend told me Agentina's Spanish flows like Italian.

Well I like listening to Venezuelan, Mexican, and Madrileno accents(thats why I want to go to Spain since everything seems more concentrated on latin American Spanish here so I want to be different lol). If I really have to budget myself I may look to latin American instead of Spain. But for tryng to become bilingual I'm not sure where I should go first withthe time I have. Im looking at many different schools now.

But to make a long story short after the fact lol, how would you describe another spanish accent different from yours? "Por empleo" if you are Mexican what would you say of a Colombian accent? Is it harder or easier and clearer? So on and so forth

p.s. in trying to just listen to more spanish to get my ear used to hearing it I watch telemundo sometimes and I have fallen in love with Shakira. I can sing basically all of La Tortura and now Im a fan of Alejandro Sanz. His new single with Shakira "Te Lo Agradezco, Pero No" is GREAT! Even though I don't understand everything yet!

Do we need to get there again? I thought it was already decided that Guatemalan Spanish is the best of all!

Just kidding...

There are accents and there are accents. Personally, I find Caribbean Spanish (Cuba, Puerto Rico) hard to understand. It's too fast and sometimes slurred.

Mexican Spanish (as spoken in Mexico, not the variety you'll find in the Mexican telenovelas) is quite clear.

I also like the way Costa Rican Spanish sounds (just don't tell anyone I said that, I might get expelled from my country!)

Argentinian Spanish deserves its own category. It may not be as clear as other Spanish accents, but man, it drives me crazy!

Spanish from Spain is a whole different world, as you may have notice. The accent, the "th" sound, the use of vosotros as opposed to ustedes in Latin America... but at the end of the day we all understand one another perfectly.

Quoting Tsaord (Thread starter):They seem to use "Vale" a lot lol...which Im not sure what it means.

I wouldn't consider señorita Laura to be an accurate representation of Peruvian Spanish, I must say.

Quoting Tsaord (Thread starter):But for tryng to become bilingual I'm not sure where I should go first withthe time I have. Im looking at many different schools now.

Don't take this from me, 'cause I may be biased... but I've heard that some of the best Spanish schools are located in Guatemala (namely, in the city of Quetzaltenango). Apparently it's because Guatemalan Spanish doesn't have that much of an accent, or so they say.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the opinions of my fellow Spanish Speakers from other regions.

Espero te sea de utilidad...

Saludos
Carmen

Don't expect to see me around that much (if at all) -- the contact link should still work, though.

Chileans like me (from what I've seen) have a lot of prejudices to other spanish accents.
We think our accent is the most neutral one, until we realise it is one of the ugliest in the continent.

We find extremely sexy the argentinean/uruguayan accent (the River Plate Basin one) but we can also find it the most hateful, snobby, disgusting accent in the world. And yes, it sounds as an italian spoken spanish.

The same applies to the commonly used castilian spanish, with all its "ths" and "shs". You either love it or hate it. And they use the "vosotros" which is so outdated, LOL.

Then, for the common chilean, there are only three more accents, the "peru/bolivian", the "caribbean" and the "mexican accents".

I love the peruvian accent, as it sounds so correctly pronunciated in every word it makes me envious. At least for me it is the most perfect spanish accent.

I don't know enough about the bolivian accent to judge it, but the one thing I don't like about it is that they pronunce Rs like Ys

Then, I can identify the Colombian accent, which I like very much, but sounds so "servant to landlord" (FOR ME) with all its "usted" that it ends annoying me.

Then I cannot differentiate between the venezuelan, cuban, puertorican, central american accents.They're all the same for me and I don't like them at all.

And finally the mexican, which I don't like (don't know why) but most people in Chile tend to find funny and nice going.

That's all from me.
To all spanish speaker in this forum, feel free to criticise the chilean accent!

Quoting Carmenlu15 (Reply 1):I also like the way Costa Rican Spanish sounds (just don't tell anyone I said that, I might get expelled from my country!)

Personally, I hate how journalists write and speak in Costa Rican Spanish. They always try to be fancy by using words nobody else would ever use to describe something, like for example saying "privados de libertad" instead of "prisionero" for a prison inmate. It's like journalists here try to imitate us Germans, and we do know how to be more "elegant" with using alternate words for something.

Quoting Lan_Fanatic (Reply 2):Then, I can identify the Colombian accent, which I like very much, but sounds so "servant to landlord" (FOR ME) with all its "usted" that it ends annoying me.

Well, those who have heard me speak or seen me write in Spanish know that I'm almost the master at that, as I use almost always the "usted".

Actually, I don't have a problem with the Chilean accent, after having worked once for a year with a Chilean boss. There's much worse.

Note to the people in the Costa Rican press, especially Channel 7 news: somebody who has been kidnapped is a real "privado de libertad", not an inmate! Prison inmates forfeited their freedom by committing the very crime they got convicted for, they did not lose it like hostages tend to have lost it.

One of my yahoo buddies has studied spanish for many years now as he teaches it for Big Brother (the Government)!!

They send their students, usually people associated with the government in some higher form to many spanish speaking countries. He really loves Quito, Ecuador. He believes the spanish in Ecuador is very clear. In addition to that I'm told students who do spanish immersion should probaly go to Guatamala, Mexico sans Mexico City, or Costa Rica since its cheaper and also the spanish spoken in those places won't be too hard on a non native ear. Any place will do since you will get used to the accent I believe. I really like the accent from Madrid. I thought about Barcelona but I found out Catalan might distract me.

Im on level 3 of an 8 level course. I hope to be finished with my own program then be off for the first time internationally to somewhere lol. I really do not hear one peep about Uruguay, Paraguay or Bolivian accents. I found out from this site called "Yabla" southern Spaniards don't prononuce their "s" in words.

I think I would like to go to Venezuela but they really don't have immersion schools there. I like how they speak. Honestly I will listen to Hugo Chavez ramble all day! I can hear their words so good even though I may not know the meanings. The first thing I heard Mr. Chavez say was "Ayer Estuvo El Diablo Aqui", aint it wierd??

Im African American, WHEN I become fluent or at least functional and I start my spanish visits to Mexico and Central/South America I wonder If I could pass for a Dominican or Peruvian but with a Castillian speech if I study in Spain lol. So many places to choose from.

Mr Tsaord, you've entered one of the most discussed, subjective and hot topics in the whole Spanish-speaking world. No accent is really "neutral" in our language, and most news anchors on international networks, such as CNN en Español, must take special courses in order to avoid using localisms, i.e. words or sentences that would make no sense whatsoever outside a certain region or country.

I would consider Ríoplatense Spanish (Argentina and Uruguay) the most independent accent of all. Not only do we have completely different vocabulary, but our constructions also vary greatly from other types of Spanish, and that goes far beyond the famous "vos" we use instead of "tú". The accent itself also varies from place to place, and so does the vocabulary - a person from Mendoza (Western Argentina) speaks differently than a guy from Córdoba (Centre), who sometimes cannot understand a man from Buenos Aires. I would even dare to say Argentine Spanish on its broadest expression, generally called Lunfardo, may be considered a whole different language, because of its strong uses of Italian and French loan-words, among others, which would make it completely non-understandable for a foreigner.

I'd say Bolivian Spanish is the most neutral one. They speak using all the constructions and correct tenses, which is something that does not happen in Argentina or anywhere in the Latin world - except perhaps in some parts of Colombia. As for the strangest and most difficult accent, the winner is Paraguayan. People in Paraguay do not speak proper Spanish, despite being completely able to do so. It's more like a pidgin mixturing Spanish and Guaraní - even in the upper classes. The lower the class, the more Guaraní the pidgin has. But even the richest people in Asunción use some Guaraní vocabulary, and it is normal to hear a person talking in Spanish, while another answers to him in Guaraní.

The great thing is, making a very little effort we all get to understand each other, no matter where we are from. And that's great.

Harder I don't believe, for once getting used to it, after a couple of days, all Spanish speakers can get what we are saying, despite how awkward it may sound. Harder, nah - unique, certainly. And we are definitely proud of that.

Quoting Lan_Fanatic (Reply 2):That's all from me.
To all spanish speaker in this forum, feel free to criticise the chilean accent!

Since i don't see any Mexicans responding, I will respong on their behalf. I live in Mexico and I learnt spanish here, and I love their accent, moreso people from the DF.

Chilean spanish is interesting, they speak very fast as well. I have from friends from Paraguay and at first I found it difficult to understand but they speak like people whose toungue is not spanish, easier for me.

Spanish, the th sound makes in interesting though I don't like it.

I like to hear central americas, Honduras, Guatemala. I love Mexican spanish and is very easily understood. The argentine accent is very cool, sounds like Italian though

LOL... The funny thing is that many people really believe that everybody in Mexico City speaks with that weird, vulgar accent. The fact is that, as ugly as it would sound, only the poor and uneducated have that peculiar accent. Certainly, you won't find it in a Spanish as second language school. In many parts of the city, you would never hear it.

Having said that, I think that the Argentinean Spanish is beautiful, but it's a no-no for somebody learning Spanish. The way they speak it is quite different from the rest of the continent.

Tsaord: I'd recommend you Colombia (Bogota) or some cities in Mexico like Cuernavaca or Guanajuato. Their Spanish would be easier to learn.

Quoting SFOMEX (Reply 14):Tsaord: I'd recommend you Colombia (Bogota) or some cities in Mexico like Cuernavaca or Guanajuato. Their Spanish would be easier to learn.

I learn't spanish in Taxco, Guerrero, there is a language school there (CEPE, part of UNAM). It was really interesting, the people there really sang, it was neat. Cuernavaca was 1.5 hours from Taxco and the accent didn't vary too much so I agree it was easier to learn.

Now I live in Aguascalientes, and upon arrival I thought the people spoke incredibly fast, and they do at least compared to Tasqueñans.

What I have noticed is that people from different states in Mexico speak really differently. YOu have experience it to understand it but sometimes the accent is extremly different, so I don't think 'mexican' spanish can be generalized. I think it also has to do with the fact that Mexico is a big country with a huge population, whilst other Latin American countries are smaller you tend to hear similar accents throughout the country.I[Edited 2006-11-20 08:11:04]

Quoting Carmenlu15 (Reply 1):Spanish from Spain is a whole different world, as you may have notice. The accent, the "th" sound, the use of vosotros as opposed to ustedes in Latin America...

Well, you get the absence of 'th' as well in Canarian and some Andalusian dialects, too, and also the 'ustedes' thingie, too. Pure Castillian Spanish (à la Salamanca or Burgos) sounds a bit too rough on my ears, and Madrileno's leismo and laismo sound awful to me.

My fav would be a very mild Andalusian accent, like the one found in Canal Sur.

The trick is exposing yourself to material from many different countries, so that you're used to the differences. TV and music are your friends here

Quoting SFOMEX (Reply 14):LOL... The funny thing is that many people really believe that everybody in Mexico City speaks with that weird, vulgar accent. The fact is that, as ugly as it would sound, only the poor and uneducated have that peculiar accent. Certainly, you won't find it in a Spanish as second language school. In many parts of the city, you would never hear it

Well said SFOMEX!!! I definitely hate when I travel abroad and I say I come from Mexico and people start making fun of that vulgar accent!!! People can find even up to three different accents in Mexico City. Which to my knowledge are the upper class (the "fresa" one) the middle normal class and that horrible weird vulgar accent. I don't know why some people in LatAm think we speak "a la" Pedro Infante!!

The Mexican telenovela spanish is probably one of the most plain Spanish I ever heard.

Quoting Tsaord (Thread starter):But for tryng to become bilingual I'm not sure where I should go first withthe time I have. Im looking at many different schools now.

I guess, you'd have to take into consideration the "environment", so to speak, where you plan to speak Spanish. The general consensus is that you should learn the one accent of the region you live in, in this case North America. However, there's quite a lot of Hispanic diversity here! Ask yourself the following question: how would you "feel" about an Argentinian speaking to you with an Australian English accent? or, a Mexican with a South African accent?

Quoting Lan_Fanatic (Reply 2):We think our accent is the most neutral one, until we realise it is one of the ugliest in the continent.

I think this happens to people living in countries whose language is spoken in more than one country.

I think mexican spanish is one of the clearer versions, then again it depends where you hear it though. I guess most Mexican telenovelas (no I don't watch that crap) have the clearest versions.

I think people from GDL have a pretty neutral accent, and usually around MEX as well, then again it depends who you are talking to.

The one accent I hate is the one hard-core sonorense accent. They say "leshe" instead of "leche" and "pos" instead of "pues" and so on... 20 years later I still get confused. O but they definitely have the best cussing out there